New Faces and New Beginnings
by Jauntues Tigerwolf
Summary: I was going to lose control. I could feel my anger rise like an angry river. If that happened, then I knew he was doomed to die.
1. Chapter 1 New Faces and New Beginnings

Disclaimer I am not George Lucas nor am I a part of Disney, so now that we have straitened that out… I do not own Star Wars or its characters. I only own my OC's and the plot for this chapter.

Chapter 1- New Beginnings and New Faces

* * *

Shibaan (pronounced she-ban)

I was on the planet Endor and running for all my legs were worth, the droids that had attacked our clan where after me. The conversation that my clan leader and I had had before I ran, still rang in my ears, "Find the Generals Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, you must convince them to take you to the Jedi Council and tell them of our existence; tell them what clans are fighting for them as well as warn them about the clans that have sided with the Separatists!"

"NO!" I had shouted, "I'm staying here and fighting with you! We are all going to tell them as a Clan!"

Jauntues, our leader, put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a shake; "I'm not giving you a choice, Shibaan, now go!"

The memory faded and I was still running, behind me the droids were getting closer. To me this was no surprise; they were droids and didn't tire out like normal people did, they were incredibly dumb though. I guessed that's just a way of compensating, you get a mindless, order-following, loyal (if you can call it that) droid solider but they don't get any smarts. The only surprising fact was the clan that was leading them, Hyena Clan.

Their clan acted like the scavengers they were named after, always waiting until after a battle to scavenge things for themselves. It was disgraceful really, especially since our clan, Wolf Clan, knew how many members were a part of their clan and what combat skills they had mastered. You couldn't really blame them though, like all the people of my race, The Dragolians, we had an animal counterpart that we could turn into at will. To distract myself from the tiredness of my limbs, in my mind, I replayed the memory of why I was forced to run.

Jauntues pushed me away to show that she had finalized her decision and ran to go help our "sisters"; we always had called each other that, we were more like a family than a clan. I ran a little ways but stopped, I turned and stared at all my sisters fighting the oncoming army as well as the Hyena Clan, I felt torn between my loyalty to my sisters and the orders I had been given. The comlink on my necklace turned on, "What are you still doing there, Shibaan, get moving; we're not holding them off so you can stare!" I felt some tears well up in my eyes, they knew and I knew that they stood next to no chance against an army of that size combine with a clan of about thirty members.

"Do this for your sisters. Come on." I scolded myself and so I turned around and ran, trying to find a wooded area, which this planet was famous for, where I could hide and think about my next move.

This pretty much put me up to date on where I was now. I had taken several turns trying to throw the droids off, and it worked. The sound of metallic footsteps had receded and I could no longer hear them, I can hear pretty far as well as smell and sense things better than a normal human can due to the nature of my counterpart. After five more minutes of running and jogging, I found the wooded area that I was looking for. Turning to the woods I swore I saw five figures following me, they were about one hundred yards away. I stopped for a second; I couldn't make out if they were my sisters or the enemy clan. Wanting to believe it was my sisters, I decided against staying here to find out. I knew that I shouldn't take the chance. At this moment the odds were more in favor of it being the enemy anyway; I started running again.

I veered left and ran toward a densely packed area of bushes and shrubs, hoping that this would make whoever was following me lose my trail. Out of all the possible landscapes in the galaxies, this forest had the kind of terrain I was built for. I felt my counterpart, a black wolf, rising; I didn't fight the transformation and in no time I was running on all fours. I had almost forgotten how good it felt to feel the earth beneath my paws and the wind through my fur.

The new feelings put a new-found strength in my limbs, I suddenly felt tireless, wild, and free. Shaking the feelings away, I reminded myself of the mission I was on. I stepped lightly, I prided myself knowing that when I used a "shadow step" that my tracks were almost invisible.

_Try finding me now._ I thought to myself, now I was actually half hoping that it was the enemy and that they did find me so I could beat them to a pulp for attacking my sisters.

After running for at least two hundred more yards, I heard a snapping in the trees above me and the rustling of bushes behind me, the trick hadn't worked. Now was the moment of truth, I knew that I was either going to see my sisters come out and appear before me or it was going to be members of the Hyena Clan. I gave a sudden stop, changed back into my human form, and pulled out the twin daggers from their sheaths, I always had them with me and for quick sheathing and drawing out; they were always strapped on the small of my back, and prepared to fight.

Two forms dropped from the trees in front of me and three forms came from the brush behind me. I slowly looked at them all, they weren't my sisters.

* * *

Anakin Skywalker

I had zoned out of my masters boring conversation about the landscape of this planet and was thinking about the scouting mission I had sent Rex, Fives, Echo, and my padawan Ahsoka on.

"Are you even paying attention Anakin?"

I snapped out of my thoughts "Wh-, Oh yes, of course. Nice trees."

Obi-Wan sighed, "I wasn't talking about the trees Anakin."

"I know, I was just saying that I know what you were saying and that those trees look nice." I said pointing to a grove of small green trees.

_They kinda do look like pine trees actually, now that I look at them…_

"Yes, well, you'll have to look at trees later then. I am feeling a, how do I put it, well a strange feeling in the Force." Obi-Wan said rubbing his beard; he always did that when he thought.

"I feel it to. It's not the dark side though. It feels more…wild, a controlled wild though.

"Hmm, yes, I hope we find the thing that is putting this feeling in the Force. I would like to study it, if possible."

_Oh, my master and his studying._

"Why would you want to study it? What if it is a tree or something, you can't bring the tree or whatever it is with you."

I looked at Obi-Wan, and then I saw movement behind him. I looked over his shoulder Rex, Ahsoka, and the others had come back from scouting.

"Well Rex, what did you find?"

"There were signs of a droid army near the valley about ten miles away from here, sir. They had some people with them to, we saw their foot prints, there where a lot of them so we decided to come back here and see if we could engage the enemy."

"Ok, good work."

I turned to my master, "Do you think we should try to track the footsteps? We could probably catch the droids by surprise."

"Maybe whoever is with the droids is causing this strange feeling or it could very well be a new weapon... I think we should go track them down."

"Could you show us the way Rex?"

"Yes sir."

I started to follow Rex up in the lead while my master stayed a bit behind to talk to Ahsoka.

"Did you feel a strange feeling in the Force while you were there?"

"Actually I did, it was strange wild feeling. The longer we followed the tracks of the droids and whoever they were with, the stronger the feeling got."

_I have to admit the feeling is really strange and I want to find out what was the cause of it is but are we sure the thing that is making the foot-prints is the thing that is even relevant to the feeling. What if it is just a…an… an Ewok? No that doesn't make any sense, the droids would have no need for Ewoks._

Just as I was thinking about all the possible things it could be, someone or something landed from a tree right in front of us.

* * *

**Ok, so this is my first fan fiction ever posted. So please Rate and Review, comment, suggestions, anything. Sorry about not putting Ahsoka in the plot to much. More about Shibaan and the clans will be in the next chapter. Oh yes I wanted to add the Wolf CLan leader isn;t me. The reason the leader of Wolf Clan has my name... She has my name because all the Wolf Clan members are based off my different sides, emotions, and stuff like that. So yeah. Rate and Review. Thanks! :) **


	2. Chapter 2- Wolves and Bears

Disclaimer- I do not own Star Wars in any way. I only own my OC's and the plot for this chapter.

Special Thanks to…

Drwho906

Celtice and Dukakis 2016

TanoxxxSkywalker and E-Kae

Thanks for being the first people to read and rate this fan fiction!

Chapter 2- Wolves and Bears

* * *

Shibaan

I looked around again at all the faces.

_Yep, for sure these guys aren't my sisters._

"Look what we have here! A pretty little wolfie! Ha ha ha!"

The other Hyena Clan members burst out laughing, wildly, as if they thought of me standing here ready to tear their hearts out funny.

"What should we do to her first? Oh I know, I know, let's ummm… ummm… I lost it…"

The others laughed again, more ideas were suggested. The two winning ideas were tying me to a tree and pouring ants in my boots or, capturing me and doing something to me while I was in a cell, giving me disgusting food I think it was. Then they started to have a big fight over it. It was quite comical actually but, eventually I got bored and intervened

"Girls, girls, you all look pretty. Can we fight now or can I go? I've got to do something waayy more important than stand around here listening to a bunch of mutts."

They all turned to face me, they didn't look happy. The member closest to me wagged a finger at me...

"Oh, I wouldn't be so mean little wolf. We have you out numbered five to one."

Twirling the dagger in my left hand, I looked at all their faces and I remembered these are the people who had attacked me and my sisters; these were the people who are against the Republic. These are the people who standing in my way!

Quickly I looked down at my daggers, sharp and clean. I looked at their weapons, they were all dual wielding hand scythes… they looked like they had not been cleaned in months.

_Get a cut from one of those; I can count on an infection in about an hour or two. (Yeah they were that dirty)_

I assessed the situation; the rest was training… and instinct. I rushed the closest person to me, the one who had wagged his finger at me and called me "_little_", daggers at the ready, I made a feint to the left; he fell for it and tried to dodge an imaginary dagger. I quickly followed with a right-handed slash. I felt my dagger get a clean slash through his wind pipe. Gurgling, he gripped his throat and fell to the ground withering, I made sure to see the spark fade from his eyes before turning my back to him to face the remaining enemies. They all looked pretty stunned how easily I had killed him.

_I guess they never expected the likes of me to have been in the Dragolian army._

I shook off the thought and again rushed one of them. Surprise was no longer on my side though. My target quickly parried my attack and swung out, leaning toward me, trying to get a hit. I noticed that this put him off-balance so I gave him a swift kick in the hip, which sent him sprawling. While he was on the ground I took the advantage and pinned him in place with my foot and quickly dispatched him with a stab through the heart.

_Two down, Three to go._

I looked up, just in time, two of the others had taken the opportunity to try to rush me and get a hit in while I had been occupied.

_Not going to happen_

I gave a jump to my left dogging them both. I heard a noise to my right, turning I saw the third member come out of the brush. I immediately knew that I would have no time to dodge this attack, I looked to see if he had left any vital parts of his body open. I saw only two parts and they were both risky targets; his unprotected chest or his calf. He ran straight up to me and I side stepped to my left, turned my body 90 degrees, stiff-armed him (that flipped him onto his back), and promptly stabbed him in heart. He made a wild slash at me before he died and to my dismay slashed the top of my left thigh.

_Holy sh-, ow! Great this is going to be a problem. Grr, now what, I can't fight as well on a bum leg…_

I couldn't think about this to long the other two I had dogged only seconds ago were coming back for a round two. This time they were at an advantage and they knew it to, I guess they wanted to gloat 'cause they stopped half way into their charge.

"Awww, did the little puppy get a cut on her leg?"

I was kind of surprised that they would even take the time to comment now, since, like, three of their buddies were laying in pools of their own blood.

I turned into my wolf form and gave a growl, not a windy growl that comes from the throat, no, I gave them a fierce growl that comes from deep in the chest.

My two opponents had turned into their Hyena forms as well, each giving me a cackling laugh in return.

"_Come and get me._" I growled

To my great pleasure they did come to me. This gave me time to see where they were going to try to attack, their eyes showed it all. I noticed that they weren't looking at me; however, they were looking at something behind me. They pulled up short; I turned around to face the new threat and I was rewarded with a club hitting the top of my head. Everything blurred and I sensed myself turning back into human form.

"Come on, the Separatists are waiting for this little… bundle of fun."

I felt something hit my boot as this was said.

"Yes, Gar, thanks, we almost thought you weren't going to make it."

"Get her wea-"

I didn't get to hear the rest, darkness took over my vision.

* * *

Ahsoka Tano

A figure had dropped down from the tree in front of my master. I made a grab for my light-saber at my hip, but Master Kenobi grabbed my wrist.

"Don't be so hasty to attack Ahsoka, think, if she wanted to attack us then she would have attacked at a later time. It would have been a perfect ambush."

I nodded my agreement and relaxed

_Wait, did Master Kenobi just say what I think he said… the person is a she!_

I looked over and sure enough the figure was a she. She wore a sort of shirt and pants that covered her entire body. Not a single bit of flesh could be seen. She even wore boots and gloves! The only thing that showed was the bottom of her face, nose and neck. There was something on her neck; it looked like a leather ribbon that had two buttons on either side. She was wearing a hood so I couldn't see her eyes, blond hair showed out from underneath the hood. She wore a sort of short cape around one shoulder and it was as long as her arm, so the arm was covered. She had on an impressive assortment of weapons too; as far as I could see she had a sword at her hip and some throwing daggers on her belt. She also had wrist sheaths and in them was a dagger, one a twin to the other.

_Who is she? What does she want?_

My questions were somewhat rewarded when Skyguy asked

"Nice entrance. You are?"

"Wait, you don't know me… where is… the other. She was supposed to be here already."

"Ummm. You are the only new person we've seen, so again, who you are and what do you want."

"… This may take a minute to explain… you can call me Snow, I guess."

"I'm General Anakin Skywalker."

_It was only then I started to notice the wild feeling in the Force. It was strong. She must be the reason! It only started happening when she had come around!_

I looked to Master Kenobi; he nodded to me, silently telling me he felt it to.

I zoned back into the conversation.

"So let me get this straight, you are part of a clan that isn't supposed to exist and you are telling me that others like you are siding with the Separatists while others sided with the Republic."

_Darn I missed some useful info; well I guess I can find out later…_

"Yes… That's pretty much the story."

"Well, what clan are you from and which… clans… have sided with the Republic and which ones have sided with the Separatists?"

"I am from the Bear Clan. The only other clan I know that is on the side of the Republic is Wolf clan. My friend from Wolf Clan was supposed to be here already and have informed you. Something must have happened."

I couldn't stay quiet anymore; it had been so long since I had seen another girl around; the last girl I had probably seen and talked to was Barriss and that felt like a lifetime ago.

"Where is your clan?" I hoped I didn't offend her…

"My clan… got taken by the droids. They held them off while I was running here to give you the message. Another clan was with the droids, I think it was the Hyena Clan, I know that they are big supporters of the Separatists. Anyway I was told to… stay here and…protect you from the other clans."

Obi-Wan spoke up, "We are sorry to hear about this. We were on our way to investigate a possible droid camp near a valley not five miles from here. Would you like to join us and see if they have this friend of yours?"

"Yes, Yes I would like that very much. Thank you!"

"Well, I'm General Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"I'm Ahsoka Tano."

"It is nice to meet you both."

Snow awkwardly walked up to me, smiled, and walked by my side.

_I know that I had barely met Snow but, I liked her already._

* * *

Shibaan

I woke up with a headache. I looked around.

_Where am I? Oh yeah I got hit in the head with a club… not one of your proudest moments 'baan._

I gave myself a quick test to make sure I hadn't lost any memory or anything.

_Q- What is your name? A- Shibaan, (I don't have a last name… all well it's not like I need one.)_

_Q- What is your counterpart? A- A black wolf_

_Q- Name your sisters and their counterparts. A- Jauntues, a white Siberian Tiger, Dovara, a white dragon, Setma, a black King Cobra, Eyale (pronounced E-yal-e), a black falcon, Runea (pronounced Rune-a) a black mare (female horse, for those who don't know what a mare is), and Kyrea (Pronounced Kye-re-a) a white wolf. _

_Well Kyrea isn't part of the clan… Still we are so close we don't have to be clan, we are after all pretty much a yin and yang of each other… not counting the color difference. Ok i'm getting distracted, back to question time…_

_Q- What is your mission and why? A- The mission... Oh, it was to warn the Republic about the existence of clans and the danger they pose to their side in the war, then I must join the General Anakin Skywalker and try to help him and his troops against whatever clans they may face! Why… because the Republic has no idea what they are up against. One clan is probably worth five Jedi, depending on the clan's training and size. The Clans that had been in Dragolian Wars were a big threat. Those whose clans were made up of top class warriors, like my clan was, even more so…_

"Ok, I seem to remember everything." I tried to stand up to explore my new "lodgings", but a white-hot blast of pain seared through my left leg. I looked down at it. There wasn't any blood; instead there was a huge white puss scab.

_Holy… this is gross… how am I going to get out of this one?_

I looked at my leg, it had swelled up; probably from all the puss and germs welling up inside.

_I'm going to have to clean off the scab, lance it to release all the germs and infection._

My hands intently went to the small of my back, no daggers.

_Well what did I expect, they weren't going to let a prisoner walk around a cell with weapons, even droids were smart enough to know that._

I felt around my stomach to see if my belt was still there, it was but no daggers, they even took the hidden ones I had in pockets in the belt. Well I had no weapons… Wait… I looked down at my boots; the heels of my boots had not been touched! I took off my right boot, attempted to take of the left one, but that leg hurt if I even moved it. I looked at my right boot, yep the heel is still there. I removed the false heel and produced a three-inch blade. I scraped off the scab, it didn't hurt too much actually.

_Great… now here comes the hard part, I have to actually stab into my leg now… Well do you want to get the infection out or not? If not then just wait; the swellings going to increase until your leg looks like a sausage and then pop like a balloon when the pressure is too much…_

I quickly decided that I didn't want my leg to be a sausage balloon and pop.

"Just count to three and do it…" I poised my blade an inch above my left leg, an inch or two away from the scab itself. "One… two… th-… thr-…*sigh*… three!"

I shoved the blade into my leg, it hurt like hell, but I noticed that blood didn't come out. Pus and white gooey stuff came out in its place. Ugh, it smelled of rot and decay. I withdrew the dagger and watched the stuff slide out of the wound. I put pressure on it from time to time and that just squeezed out more fluids. After what felt like five or ten minutes I was sure that there was no more pus or white goop.

_How long have I been here? An hour, or three? I can't tell there is no clock or sun! Wait… sun…_

I looked around and saw a window, I got up to go see outside I noticed though that my leg felt a bit better; I guess I couldn't bend it because of all the puss was trying to escape. Well I got up, with much difficulty, and hobbled over to the window. I looked through it; we were in some place close to the valley that I had run from. I looked for something to wrap my fist in so that I wouldn't cut myself on the glass.

I couldn't help thinking though_; Who puts glass windows in a cell? That's just stupid… well I know the droids had to have goofed up somewhere, it was just beginning to feel like an actual prison cell too, all well, droids aren't known for their smarts for a reason, ha ha ha._

I couldn't find anything to wrap my hand it, so I decided to just use my elbow; that would work just as well for the glass. I elbowed the glass and sure enough it broke, I got a scratch but nothing to serious that would lead to another infection. Already the smell of rot was leaving the cell.

_Hope someone finds me, _I realized_. I didn't have my sisters to back me up on this situation. I guess my only hope was to trust that my friend from Bear Clan, Kyrea, got to the Republic and was looking for me…_

* * *

Kyrea (a.k.a Snow)

I didn't tell the Jedi my real name. Shibaan was supposed to be here before me and give me a signal that I could trust them. I would reveal it later I guess if the time arose or if I got to trust them. I was standing beside Ahsoka it was a sort of awkward, I guess she decided to try to strike up a conversation.

"So your part of a clan… what is a clan exactly?"

"It's sort of hard to explain really… umm... a clan really is a group of people who share the same interests, ideas and positions in life. Some clan members are really tight with each other; some clans just tolerate each other."

"So clans form bonds or… attachments…"

Ahsoka said "attachments" a little funny…

"Umm… yeah actually. I hope I'm not being to forward but, why did you say attachments all funny?"

"Well… as a Jedi or even training to be a Jedi you're not supposed to have attachments."

"Oh… so… you are training to be a Jedi?"

"Yeah."

An uncomfortable silence ensued, I thought about Shibaan, where was she and was she okay?

* * *

**I hope you guys like the series so far. I am trying hard to put all the details and stuff in my head in words. This stuff I actually day-dream about... Oh and the clothing that Shibaan and Kyrea are wearing is based on the clothing that the assassins, in assassins creed, wear. (No, I don't own assassins creed either) May you all have a Happy Thanksgiving! Commence the eating of Turkey, Ham, and PIE! **


	3. Chapter 3- Black, White, and Red

Disclaimer- I do not own Star Wars in any way. I only own my OC's and the plot of this chapter.

Chapter 3- Black, White, and Red

* * *

Shibaan

I was stuck in a cell and bored out of my mind. The wound on my leg wasn't feeling very good either. It still swelled from time to time, since I didn't have anything to disinfect it. The infection would probably poison my blood stream in about two more days.

_Well that is a comforting thought…_

I sighed and looked out the window I had smashed. I saw we had stopped… and there was something moving in the distance. It looked like it was wearing red. It was looking at me too… There was a reflection of light of a metal thing coming from it. I recognized the pattern immediately. The message was…

_Shibaan is that you…Shibaan is that you…Shibaan is that you…_

The message repeated three more times and stopped, the person was waiting for an answer. I looked around to see if I could find anything reflective. I saw nothing, but then I noticed the glass at my feet.

_That will do… I guess. _ I thought as I bent down to pick it up.

The glass shard was about the size of my palm. I angled it as best I could toward the sun and replied…

_That depends who you are… That depends who you are…_

I only replied twice because I knew that the person was watching and would decipher it quickly. I was right to the reply back to me was…

_It's me Red Pelt._

I was relieved to see the message. It was a good friend of my, Edeme. I called her Red Pelt or Red for short because of her distinctive red fur.

_Edeme is that you... It is me Shibaan…_

_Prove it. What do I call you?_

_You call me Shadow!_

_Ok good it is you… Hold on I'm coming over…_

I dropped the shard. I could hardly believe it! Out of everyone in my clan and Bear clan Edeme had found me! Edeme was part of Crow Clan; they are a good clan despite the image that the name puts in your head. Edeme suddenly popped up in front of me.

"How did you get past the guards?" I asked her "you couldn't have snuck past all of them…"

"Honestly, I decapitated them all. It doesn't take much to send their heads rolling."

"Oh… so where is your clan and is Hyena Clan still here?"

"They are out in the forest, we wanted to hang out here for a while, you know, and maybe steal a droid ship or something and no. Hyena Clan isn't here, they were but not now. At least none that I can smell or see."

"Ok good to know, so are you for the Republic?"

"No not exactly, we are sort of neutral at the moment. We want to see the intentions of each side."

"Well, in any case it is good to see you again. I need you to do me a favor though."

"You name it and it is as good as done."

"Ok, you remember Kyrea, right?"

"Yeah, I know Snow. You two have only done, like, a billion favors for me."

I gave a quick chuckle; "I need you to give her a message. I need you to tell her where this camp is and to…please come get me…" My leg started to ache. I tried to ignore it and keep up with the conversation.

"Ok, will do. Do you need anything? You look kind of pale now that I look at you."

"No, just get Kyrea and I should be fine. No offence she is a better medic than the both of us."

"Yeah, your right. Ok I'm off, I'll see you later."

"Be careful Red."

"Will do Shadow."

I watched Red run back in the direction she had come. Even though she had just left, I was starting to feel lonely and bored all over again. I hoped she found Snow soon. I couldn't think of anything else to do so I just slumped down, sat, and started to wait.

* * *

Edeme (a.k.a Red)

I was trying to sniff out Kyrea, just as Shibaan had told me. I honestly looked up to both Shibaan and Kyrea and I tried to do exactly what they said. If I ever let them down in any way I would die of shame. (Yeah, that's how much I look up to them.) I came to a clearing, changing into my wolf form, I began to sniff around. I was up wind so I couldn't smell anything, I changed to downwind so that the wind blew in my face so that I could "read" the tale the wind told. I found Kyrea's scent. I started to follow it.

_This might take a while. The scent is a bit stale… I suspect a two-hour run. I hope she isn't going at a fast pace._

I smelled other scents along with hers.

_She must be traveling with others._

The scents smelled human, so I knew that she hadn't been captured by droids. I broke into a run, with the thought of rescuing Shibaan.

* * *

Rex

I was leading General Skywalker to the spot where the droid camp might possibly be. This new girl, Snow, I was a bit wary. We had just met her and she is supposed to be an elite warrior in a group of other elite warriors. If she was a spy and her information was true, the 501st was not up against good odds; even with the help of Jedi. I took a quick look behind me, Snow and Ahsoka were talking.

I turned to General Skywalker; "Sir, should we trust this, Snow, girl?"

"I'm not entirely sure, honestly. If she is an ally then she could be a good one."

General Kenobi stepped in; "Yes, but what if she isn't an ally, if she is telling us the truth about her and her people's military experiences then they could be a serious threat."

General Skywalker nodded his head in agreement. Turning his head toward Ahsoka and Snow, he gave a small grin.

"Ahsoka could use some girl time, after all Master, she is around us and the men all the time. I think some time with another girl could do her some good."

"Yes, I guess you're right Anakin. Just as a precaution, however, I'm going to ask Cody to ask one of the men to keep an eye on her."

General Kenobi turned and left to go find Cody.

"Rex, can you ask one of the men to keep an eye on Snow as well. We don't want Kenobi's man to have all the fun of spying do we? I will lead the way from here while you go."

"No sir, I know just the man for the job." I turned to go find someone for the job. I didn't know who I wanted to choose for this mission, but I would figure it out.

_Hardcase? No he's not the sneaking type… Jessie? No, we need him here. Fives?... I think that would work… If Echo wants to go with him then by all means he can do it._

I headed to where Fives was. On the way there though I almost bumped into Cody; "Are you finding someone to spy too?"

"Yeah, you too huh…"

"Who have you chosen?"

"I thought Waxer would be good for this. He can make friends with pretty much whomever. Boil would probably tag along with him. So two guys, one girl, pretty good odds if a fight should go out." Who have you chosen?"

"Me? Oh, I chose Fives, for pretty much the same reason you chose Waxer. He is a good man and he has a buddy."

"So four against one in a fight. That seems a bit out of the girls favor."

"Yeah, but don't forget that this girl supposedly has expert military training."

"I know. Well let's go and get those men shall we?"

With Cody in the lead I followed him.

* * *

Kyrea (a.k.a Snow)

Ahsoka and I were getting along pretty well. I admired her achievements at the Jedi temple where she had trained. She admired mine as well, so we kind of admired each other's fighting ability. She looked at me in a funny way, like she wanted to ask a question but was embarrassed to.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Oh… umm. I was wondering…" she stuttered and slowed and mumbled something even I couldn't hear (Yeah, even my wolf ears didn't hear)

"What? It's ok; I mean your question won't really be offending me if that is what you are worried about."

"Ok, how… how many wars, exactly, have you been in?"

I thought a moment. "I have been in four wars."

"Really!"

"Yes really."

"Have… have you ever killed a person…not a droid, but a real person?"

"Yes… unfortunately."

"Oh, sorry I hope I didn't-"

"No its ok, I admire that you are asking. I don't mind your curiosity."

"Thanks."

"So, Ahsoka, can I ask you some questions now?"

"Yeah sure."

"Ok, well first off why aren't Jedi allowed to have attachments?"

"Well, having attachment is supposed to lead you to the dark side. You know because you can get angry, beyond control, or jealous."

"… I guess that makes sense… so the Jedi are afraid that if they have attachments they will be concurred my emotions?"

"Yeah, that's the basics I think."

"Well, what if you learn to control your emotion. It is hard, but it is possible."

"Then… I'm not sure… I never thought about it that hard before…"

We walked on a little longer. We had walked for what I thought had been four hours.

I turned to Ahsoka; "How far are we from this camp now?"

"I don't know, maybe another hour."

"I thought this valley was only four miles away…"

"Well… nobody said that four miles is easy to walk."

"True. How long did it take for you to get there?"

"It only took two hours, but that was because the scouting party was small."

"Ok."

I looked up at the sky; it looked like it was about five o'clock. When we had set off it must have been around twelve or one…"

I heard a howl coming from the east. It was a short high-pitched howl but it sounded familiar. I turned to the east. Ahsoka looked puzzled.

"What kind of animal makes that noise?"

"Shhhhhh!" I said. I listened again and this time I got the message.

"_Kyrea, Kyrea where are you. Shibaan sent me to find you and I have lost the scent. I hope you are close, where are you, where are you?"_

I looked over to Ahsoka and back to the direction of the howl. By that time Ahsoka looked a bit scared, but curious. The generals had looked back at us to, as well as all the soldiers. I couldn't help it; I had to answer the message. I turned into my wolf form and howled back a reply.

* * *

Ahsoka

Snow changed right before my eyes. First she was a girl then she was a white… something. It didn't look like any animal I had seen. I couldn't help but gasp. I heard others coming from some of the clones. Snow then did howled back to what ever had howled in the first place. It was a long mix of low and high pitches. After she had done that she remained in her… form and waited. A reply came back. Snow's ears moved forward, as if to capture the sound. After this howl though the form gave a soft snarl; the thing morphed back into Snow.

"I know where my friend and the camp are. We are going the right way just one more mile then we turn east. That will get us to the camp within an hour."

"What was that… what did you just do?"

"I turned into a wolf a white wolf."

"Wolf? I haven't seen one of those until now."

"My friend can turn into a wolf like me too. The only problem is, is that she has been captured. That's what my other friend just told me now."

"What color is your friend?"

"Which one, the one that howled now, or the one who got captured?"

"Both I guess."

"Well, the one who howled to me now, her pelt is red. My friend who is captured her pelt is black. We are a sort of yin and yang of each other if you get what I am saying. Anyway, my red pelted friend said that we are close camp and that she will meet us there."

"Oh, ok."

Snow turned and walked to my master Skyguy. I walked with her, I was surprised that I wasn't scared. I was actually pretty amazed.

"Well that was…interesting…" My master said, having the face that says _Mind Blown!_

Snow gave a small smile and repeated what she had just told me.

"Okay, can we trust this Red?"

"With your life… well at least that's how much I trust her."

Master Kenobi joined the conversation; "Let's take a small squad from here. It will take less time to get there."

"Agreed." My master said and went off, probably to go find Rex.

I looked at Snow, she nodded at me and we went off to… actually I guess we walked around and waited.

Shibaan

I was still waiting… it had been like what… almost what felt like another two or three hours!

_Just be patience 'baan... Fine._

I was sitting and my leg was starting to cramp up. I needed to get up. I tried to slowly lift myself up but no matter how slowly, carefully, or quickly got up, my infected leg hurt like hell. When was Edeme going to be back with Kyrea and the Republic? I walked in a circle three times to exercise my leg and to keep me from going insane with boredom. After the three "laps" I had tired myself out. (I know it sound weak and all but you try having an infected leg, stabbing it, and then walking around after an hour or two!) I pondered what Edeme had said before she left. She hadn't met any Hyena Clan members… where were they? They couldn't have left… they had me and… and what? Were they planning to use me as bait?

_I hope that's not the case…_

I thought about it a bit more. I looked up at the window, it was night. I didn't normally feel tired (you know… wolf thing…) this time I felt tired. My eyelids felt like one hundred pounds. I eventually drifted off to sleep.

*about an hour later*

_I hear something… is that a motor… a… speeder! If that is Hyena Clan then that means… No, don't think about that._

I heard the speeders stop, several blaster shots and then foot-steps. Muffled voices came with those foot-steps. The door to the cell started to open. I got up quickly despite the pain. I crouched ready to spring. Someone looked into the door; "Hey Shadow!"

* * *

Kyrea

"Hey Shadow!" After saying that I was promptly tackled and I felt light cuffs on my face.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"What did you want me to do, give you a secret knock or something?"

"… That would have been nice…"

Shibaan got off of me and helped me up. She took one look at General Skywalker, General Kenobi, Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody and looked at me. I nodded and her eyes got wide. She opened up her mouth to say something but we heard a giggly, evil laugh.

"So *hyena laugh* they did come after all!" *another hyena laugh*

I looked around and saw at least twenty eyes looking at us. I looked back at Shibaan and that was when I noticed that her leg was injured… and infected. We didn't have time to think about it now though the "Hyenas" where getting closer.

"This is your black pelt friend right?" Ahsoka asked, despite all the evil people gathering in front of us.

"Yep. Oh and Ahsoka this is Hyena Clan. You might want to get your light-saber out."

Ahsoka ignited her light saber at the same time Kenobi and Skywalker did. Rex and Cody stood with them, blasters at the ready.

"Hey, um, Snow?" Shibaan was looking at me.

"Yeah?"

"Can you give me a dagger or something? Mine kinda got taken."

"Sure." I unhooked a tomahawk from my leg and tossed it to her. She gave it a twirl.

"Yep this will do; thanks."

The crowd of Hyena's was getting closer. They didn't take out their weapons like I had expected but they turned into their Hyena forms. I looked over at Shibaan.

"Well my friend, it looks like they don't want to play with toys. They want to skip straight to the party."

"Good enough for me."

We both went into our forms.

* * *

Ahsoka

I saw Snow and her friend go into their forms. I got what Snow had said about the Yin and Yang thing. Snow's wolf had a white coat. Her friend had a black coat. I know that Snow had said it was black but I didn't know that it was black as in pitch black. You could barely see her. The coats had a striking difference.

"Well, what do you know," my master said. I looked beside me where he was standing. "It looks like Snow wasn't kidding about the size of this clan. If her info is right this is barely half of them. I don't see their leader though."

"What does their leader look like?" I asked, this was part of the information I had missed and forgot to ask about.

"Well according to Snow he is bigger than all the others and his right ear has a tear in it. I don't see him here."

Another figure came out of the bush it had a red pelt but, on its stomach and inside of its legs it was white. The face was white with red on it, so it looked like the red-figure was wearing a mask. I looked where Snow was standing. In front of us were three angry wolves, snarling in our defense.

_Look at that… Black, White, and Red._

* * *

**Sorry it took me forever to finally post this. I had Finals and I have to study for them and all. Grr… But anyway since I am on Winter Break, finally, I should be able to post more sooner! BTW for Edeme, her coat is red on her back and on the top side of her tail but her under sides are all white, same with her face. R&R **Please**. **


	4. Chapter 4- Hope

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars in any way. I only own my OCs and the plot for this chapter.**

**Chapter 4- Hope**

* * *

**Shibaan**

Hyena Clan was in front of us and our allies behind us. I had morphed into my wolf form along with Kyrea and Edeme. I knew that my hind leg wasn't going to do me any favors, my pelt made up for that though. My pelt was black, darker than the night sky with no hint of grey or dark blue, just pure black.

"You guys ready for this?" I growled to Kyrea and Edeme.

"Ha, I was just about to ask you the same thing." Kyrea growled back.

"Let's do this!" Edeme yipped.

All three of us rushed the hyenas closest to us. They weren't ready for our attack, but their comrades were and blocked our slashing fangs. Pretty soon it was one of us against three Hyena members. I stole a glance behind me; the Republic people who Kyrea had brought with her were doing pretty well, especially the girl who Kyrea had called "Ahsoka". You could tell that she was good just by her stance. Her legs were an equal space apart parallel to her shoulders; this showed that she had experience and a lot of practice. Her stance was almost exactly like the man beside her. I assumed from the resemblance that the man was her mentor. Both of them skillfully cutting at the mass of hyenas that were around them.

I turned back to face my three opponents. I knew I had to find the quickest ways to kill them, every minute I wasted more hyenas would pass me and go to my friends and the Republic people. After about five long second of circling, one of the hyenas got cocky and rushed me. I could hear hisses of disappointment and anger from the other hyenas as I crushed the cocky hyena's throat with my jaws. Sour blood filled my mouth. I dropped the lifeless body and growled, showing my now bloody teeth. The other two hyenas didn't get angry and rush, instead they started to circle me, again. Each going a different direction, one to my left and the other to my right. I looked at the one to my right first; he was an older hyena, probably about in his late thirties or early forties in his human form, he also had a lot of scars on his face and ears. This could mean he was either experienced or he was just lucky to live (about a thousand times... So the lucky hypothesis was kind of bust) I looked to the hyena on my left. His jaws were slavering. He didn't have many scars nor was he very old, maybe about in his early twenties. His stance was horrible and sloppy. He was holding his head too high, leaving much of his throat exposed. A mistake only an unseasoned fighter would make.

His eyes weren't very focused on me either. He was looking at my throat and only my throat, he didn't look like he had a plan other than "_go for the throat"._ I decided that he was going to be the first to go, it would give me more time to... "dance" with the older more experienced one. I lunged for the unguarded throat. My target moved, he may not have a lot of experience but, he was fast. I missed his throat, my fangs making a sharp _*click* next to his ear. _

He recovered and ran at me, however, he didn't notice that his companion was standing behind me. I side-stepped and the younger male slammed into his older companion. While they were in a daze, I ran behind the young male and bit down on the top of his neck and I shook my head. I only stopped shaking when I heard the satisfying _snap_ of his neck. Still holding the body, I looked at the older male... he wasn't intimidated. I have to admit that I was a bit happy that he wasn't backing down. I dropped the body and we circled each other, eyeing weak points. Growling at each other, our eyes were stone cold. We lunged at each other. With our jaws locked together, we wrestled each other trying to pin one another to the floor for an easier kill. He was smaller than me but he was strong. Our feet made small ditches in the ground from trying to push one another. I ended up flipped him over but the fight still wasn't over. (Even though animals are on their backs doesn't mean that they can't defend themselves.) He had his hind legs kicking out, scratching my face, and holding me at bay while he tried to roll on his side and get up. I instinctively bit one of his hind legs.

_CRUNCH!_

He howled in pain. This was cut short however as I slashed his throat; he tried to growl and slash back at me but he only succeeded in gurgling. While the pain distracted him I had slit his wind-pipe and blood was quickly going down the tube. He was drowning in his own blood. I looked away from my dying opponent. I saw Edeme and that she could use a hand, or a paw rather. Since I no longer had a threat I raced, as fast as my injured leg would let me, to help Edeme, who was facing four hyenas.

* * *

**Edeme**

I had killed three hyenas before this pack of four came and challenged me. I could do well against individual opponents but a group? I couldn't do as well. I had managed to break one of hyena's legs. The other ones still circled me, staring, waiting for me to make a move. All of a sudden, at a silent signal, they all rushed me at once. They jumped on top of me, making me crumple to the floor, since I couldn't support their weight. They started tearing at my hide. All I could do was try to fend off the slashing fangs. After about ten painful minuets or seconds...I couldn't tell. I heard a loud snarl of anger and many howls of pain. The number of fangs slashing at me went from four to none in a matter of seconds. I looked up and saw Shibaan tearing at the four hyenas and giving them Hell. She was merciless, tearing at their ears, eyes, noses, and faces in general. One of them retreated, half of his face laid open. The others that were fighting were bleeding from their face or chest. Fur and huge chunks of flesh being torn from them. Shibaan wasn't fighting anymore. She was taking revenge... For capturing her clan mates, imprisoning her, and attacking her friends.

More and more hyenas came to fight her, as more and more were retreating, often missing eyes, ears, or even limbs. I looked behind me at Kyrea. She was fighting three hyenas and winning. Fur was flying everywhere and her bright white fur was getting drenched with red hyena blood. I felt a bit useless but I quickly shook off the thought, I couldn't think about myself in a time like this, I looked to the soldiers that Kyrea was with. They were doing well. The men with the funny looking glowing swords were killing hyenas left and right.

_How are there hyenas still coming? There were only twenty of them. _

I couldn't think about this for long because I saw a hyena coming up behind a man in white and blue armor. He was too busy shooting at the enemy in front of him to look behind. I got up and ran toward the hyena. When I was about five feet away when I gave a snarl, then pounced on the unsuspecting hyena. I crashed into his side, sending him sprawling, and started tearing at his stomach. His surprise made him slow and he was on the floor, weakening quickly. I stopped tearing at his stomach and gripped his throat in my jaws. His wind-pipe and jugular vein gave way, killing him. I looked back at the man in blue armor. I noticed that he had a sort of helmet on, it had a T shape for the eyes, and it looked pretty cool. He gave a quick nod before again firing into the mass of hyenas. I noticed that because of their sheer numbers they had managed to push us close together in a sort of ring. Once they had us here they changed back into their human forms.

_This isn't good. _I thought before morphing back into human form too. Kyrea and Shibaan had done the same. We all drew our weapons and got ready for the real fight.

* * *

**Obi-wan Kenobi**

The things that attacked us, which were called Hyenas according to Snow, were relentless. There seemed to be no end to their numbers. Cody was blasting away into the hoard of snarling beasts. Snow and her friends had changed back into their human forms. We had been pushed into a circle backs to backs, gleaming pairs of eyes all around us. Anakin, Ahsoka, and I were surprised that for a military based race these Hyenas were reckless.

"Well, time for Plan B."

I gave a shrill whistle and out of the forest came our reinforcements. Clones on speeders came out of the forest firing into the mass surrounding us. The hyenas around us, turned and many of them gave the last growl they would ever give. That was when they took out weapons that had very strange abilities. Normally, laser rounds would go right through or damage metal, but the laser bolts reflected off their blades! It was as if they were our own light-sabers! The speeders came back around in another attempt to break up the mass. It was like watching a jousting match; some hyenas went down while others jumped onto some of the oncoming speeders and killed the clones driving them.

"Come on!" Edeme yelled to Snow. They ran toward the speeders, through a gap that I had not seen, and jumped onto the backs of two different speeders, much to the driving clone's surprise. The drivers of those two speeders were safe; hyena members would try to jump on the bikes, but were quickly dealt with, with either a stab to the chest or a slice to the throat.

I was starting to realize how much military training these people had. Snow, Shadow, and Edeme were killing these people with practiced ease and swiftness. This also, I admit, made me a bit startled.

_If the separatists droids did not even know near a half what Dragolian solders knew then what chance would the repub-...?_ I didn't even want to think about it.

The other hyena members, that were not trying to destroy the speeders, were going after us and our ground troops. The tempo of hacks and slashes I was forced to deal with, doubled. Ahsoka, Anakin, and I were again backed into a small circle back to back. We hacked and slashed at the many bodies but it seemed that when you killed one of them _three_ more took his or her place.

"This isn't going well!" I shouted. As I said this, however, the hyenas' suddenly turned around, and shot off, running away from the fight.

"Looks like you spoke too soon master." Anakin said, playing a slight smirk.

Cody and Rex jogged up. "Not many men were killed; it seems that the Hyenas just up and ran when they saw the reinforcements." Cody reported.

"That is good news, but I am wondering why these warriors just up and ran. Go see if the men saw anything unusual before they stepped in." Cody nodded and turned to carry out the order. At this point one of Snow's friends walked up to us.

"I am afraid we haven't been properly introduced," she said lightly smiling, "I am Shadow."

"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"I am Anakin Skywalker."

"I'm Ahsoka."

Shadow's head bowed a little in silent greeting.

"So do you know why the Hyena's retreated?"

"Yes, didn't you hear it? It was a battle horn in the distance."

"Battle horns? I didn't hear anything." Ahsoka said looking to Anakin.

"I think they were using a special horn. You see our race, due to our other form, can see, hear, and smell things that normal people wouldn't." Said a voice behind us. I turned to see a twelve-year-old girl. She smiled, "Hi, my name is Red"

"Very pleased to meet you." I replied. Anakin and Ahsoka each gave a nod in greeting. Snow gave a whistle, Shadow and Red looked over. She put two fingers up, opened and shut them twice, then nodded. Red nodded and looked back at us.

"I have to go back to my clan. They are probably wondering about Hyena Clan. It was nice meeting you guys." She smiled, turned to Shadow, and touched two fingers to the middle of her forehead then held them out to Shadow. Shadow returned the gesture to Red.

"'Ì'awn zong." (Stay safe) She said.

I didn't understand this language, but I had an idea that it meant good-bye. Red just smiled, nodded, and headed over to Snow who said something making Red smile even bigger. Snow patted Red on the shoulder and watched as Red went into her form and ran to where ever she had been called.

"What did you say to her?" Ahsoka questioned looking at Shadow.

"Oh, I just told her to stay safe. Snow, Red, and I go way back. We could pass as sisters if we wanted."

"Interesting." I said "What is the language that you spoke, I hadn't heard of it on any of the planets that I have been."

"It's Na'vi."

"Interesting, well I-" I looked down at her leg that she was somewhat favoring. "I think you should have that looked at."

"Oh right, almost forgot, which way to the medic?"

"We have medics here just not with the right equipment to treat that kind of wound. We should get back to camp and see what we can do."

"Alright then, oh wait I need my gear. They took it from me. It's probably still around here somewhere."

"General Skywalker!"

* * *

**Anakin Skywalker**

I turned as my name was called. It was Rex with two men behind him carrying a medium-sized chest.

"What is it Rex?"

"I don't know sir; we haven't been able to crack the code on it." The troopers put the box down and I crouched to look at it. It was a number pad.

"You can't crack it?" I asked

"No sir, the pad might be linked to an explosive on the inside."

"Mind if I try?" I turned to see Snow coming forward.

"Sure I don't see why not. Snow, this is Rex, my first in command."

Snow smiled and nodded "Nice to meet you. Now then let me see what I can do about this code."

She tapped on the box then gave it a small kick. Whatever was inside of it moved and clanged together. Then she gave a laugh.

"Wow, the hyenas were really stupid this time."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this number pad isn't really the key to open this. It is just a distraction." As if to demonstrate she crouched down next to me and punched through the number pad. She pulled out a fistful of false wiring and flipped something up in the middle of the plugs and remaining wires.

"You should be able to lift the lid now." She said standing back up. I stared at her for a second and then lifted the lid. Inside was a bunch of weapons. Swords, daggers, a tomahawk, and some that even I didn't know.

"Shadow, seems we found your gear!" Snow exclaimed.

"Hell yes!" Shadow said, walking up to the chest. She pulled out a pair of daggers and put them in sheaths on the small of her back. She pulled out some small daggers as well and slipped them into hidden pouches on her person. After a third set of daggers she pulled out the tomahawk and strapped that on her left thigh.

"Oh, hello there." She said pulling out a blade. "Seems that I wasn't the first to be robbed by hyena clan." She unsheathed the blade a bit and seemed satisfied with its' clean condition. After taking a closer look at it I saw that the blade had a hand and a half hilt with a three-foot blade. Shadow laid it on the floor and began again to rummage around in the chest. "Ooooo, wow." She said as she pulled out a bow. "She rubbed her hand along the string and frame. "They don't make 'em like this anymore." She was right, the bow was made out of wood, not sure what kind, but wood. She looked inside the chest again and found a quiver with a good twenty arrows in it. Taking out one of the arrows, she notched it into the bow and drew back the string, pointing away from us. "It's a good bow, best one I've ever strung." She commented looking back to Snow. Snow just nodded and took a look inside it as well and pulled out two more bows.

"They must have belonged to another clan. These are not the kind of bows you can steal and not think twice about the owner coming after you." She said a hint of sadness in her voice and rubbing a faint red splotch. Shadow nodded her eyes downcast while she put the bows across her back. After rummaging around some more Shadow pulled out a small backpack and took a peek inside. She gave a small nod, closed the pack, and slung it carefully over her shoulder. Picking up the sword, she strapped it to her hip.

"The rest we can leave. Other clans might be here looking for this stuff. No doubt some are here now." Shadow said standing up, quivers in hand. Rex nodded and left the chest open and walked toward the speeders.

"We don't have enough speeders for everyone." Ahsoka said.

"No problem, I can ride Snow." Shadow replied.

My master raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'ride Snow'?"

"Watch." Shadow said turning around to Snow.

Snow took off her hood; her blue eyes glinted a bit mischievously. She closed her eyes and squeezed them together. After about two seconds she opened her eyes and to everyone's surprise they were no longer human looking. Instead, they were the eyes of a wolf.

"You might want to take a few steps back" she said. We all took ten paces back. Snow took an extra five paces and gave a running start. After five paces, she jumped forward and morphed. This form, however, was bigger than her normal wolf, her shoulder was at my shoulder and she was as long as a speeder from nose to tail.

"Why do you have to jump when you go into a bigger form?" Ahsoka asked hesitantly. To our great surprise Snow was the one who answered.

"I jump because it is easier to go from my minor form to my greater form. The energy that allows us to change flows evenly and if I was to change while not in motion it would most likely make you nauseous."

Snow, in her greater wolf form, was talking. Her voice was still the same; it just had growls added to it.

Ahsoka stared in awe as Snow crouched down and Shadow jumped and pulled herself onto Snow's back. Shadow must have seen the look on my padawan's face. "You know there is room for one more." She said smiling, patting a spot beside her. Ahsoka looked over at means I couldn't help but nod. Her face lit up in childish happiness and force jumped next to Shadow.

_Well it's good to know my padawan is already getting along with them._

Ahsoka leaned over and whispered something in Shadow's ear. Shadow nodded, leaned forward, and started whispering in one of Snow's ears. Snow gave a wolfish grin and stamped her feet a bit.

"Race you back to camp master!" Ahsoka yelled as Snow took off with surprising speed.

"Do you think we can catch up to them?" Obi-wan said looking over at me.

"Sure we can master we just need to go faster than them." I said jumping on an undamaged speeder and my master getting onto a speeder beside mine.

"I was afraid you would say that."

* * *

**Ahsoka**

"Do you think we can get to the camp before my master?" I yelled.

"Yeah, why not?" Shadow yelled back.

"Well, we are going against machines that only need fuel. Won't Snow get tired?"

Snow gave what sounded like a laugh. "You doubt me Ahsoka? I am offended." she said in mock anger.

"No I'm just curious."

"Well, to answer your question, yes I will get tired. That, however, won't be for a while!" Snow said running even faster.

As I was riding Snow I couldn't help but feel a bit ridiculous. I was riding a wolf who was actually a girl about my age. That feeling though was replaced by pure enjoyment. For once I could finally hang out with female company. Riding on Snow, next to Shadow was awesome and exhilarating. I didn't need the force to feel the energy going through Snow's muscles as she ran and I didn't need the force to get this sense of freedom and enjoyment.

_We are totally going to win this race._

* * *

**Kyrea and Shibaan (Snow and Shadow)**

_I hope Edeme made it to her clan alright._

* * *

**Wow, sorry it took me soooooo long to upload this. I was busy with school, tests and what-not. I am going to be trying to update these faster. Oh you also may have noticed that I used the Language from Avatar. Yeah I was too lazy to make up my own language so I thought that Na'vi would suit this. NO I do not own the Na'vi language. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to R&R! :)**


	5. Chapter 5- Shibaan!

**Disclaimer-I do not own Star Wars the Clone Wars in any way.**

**Chapter 5- Shibaan!**

**Shibaan**

I was riding on Snow, Ahsoka sitting beside me. The wonder and amazement on her face reminded me of how I first felt turning into a wolf. It also reminded me of a time of sorrow and loneliness, but that was long in the past. I looked over at her and grinned, "How do you like this!?" I yelled to make sure the wind didn't blow my voice away.

"This is awesome!" She yelled back.

I grinned, "Oh yeah, wait till you see this." I spurred Snow on, "Makto makto!"(Ride Ride!) I yelled encouragingly. Snow gave a playful bark and pumped her legs faster. Ahsoka's eyes widened in amazement and surprise.

"I feel amazing! This is like flying without a ship!" She yelled joyfully. I laughed and we sped on, with no sign of Anakin behind us.

"We are so going to win this!" Snow barked at us.

"How much longer till we get to the camp!?" I yelled.

"At this pace we should be there within ten minutes!" Ahsoka cried triumphantly.

"Can you keep this up for that long Snow!?" I said noticing now that Snow was starting to pant a bit.

"Totally, they made us run longer than this in our Core, remember Shadow!" She replied adding an extra burst of speed as emphasis. Snow ran on after a few minutes though we heard the sound of speeders behind us.

"Uh oh, here they come. Come on Snow! Makto!" I yelled a huge smile on my face. I poked Ahsoka lightly "Lean forward, it will help decrease the wind resistance!" She nodded and leaned forward and I did the same. We speed up and didn't hear the speeders again for another two hundred meters.

"We're going to win, don't worry! We are close to camp!" Snow hollered with growls and pants in-between. She was right after a few more meters we were in camp. Ahsoka and I slid off of Snow. Ahsoka leaned on Snow, smiled and waved at her master and Obi-wan. "We win." She said.

"Well I have to hand it to 'ya Snips, you did." Anakin said.

I looked over to Snow, who was panting, but not very heavily. "You okay?" I asked. She morphed back to her human form and put her hood back on, "Yeah, never better." She was still breathing heavily, but she wasn't sweating profusely.

"I'm going to find the medic, see if I can get this fixed." I said patting to my leg. It still hurt and was prone to infection, but the place where I had stabbed my leg wasn't very deep.

"Just looking at it, I can tell all you need is some antiseptic and some stitches." Snow commented looked at my leg.

"Wanna make a bet on how many?" I asked.

Snow shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"Ok, I bet five credits that I will need twelve stitches at most." I said looking at my leg.

"I bet five credits that you are going to need fifteen." She countered a smug smile on her face.

I nodded and we shook hands, sealing the bet. Onward we went in search of the medic. We soon found the tent and went inside. There weren't many soldiers in there. The ones that were in the medic tent were not seriously injured, just in need of an antiseptic shot or some layers of gauss. The medic took a look at me; his face was tattooed with the Republic insignia.

"Ah, been expecting you. I'm Jesse." He said extending a hand.

"Pleasure, I'm Shadow." I replied shanking his hand.

"I was informed of your injury, and got the supplies ready. Would you mind showing me the wound?"

"Yeah, no problem." I said pulling my pant leg up to the top of my thigh, honestly trying to not think that he was thinking unprofessionally. He looked at it, poked around it, asking me if it had hurt and asking if I felt swelling in any area around it. The answers were all no and he just nodded. Turning around again he picked up a funny looking syringe and poked it near an area that "was the most prone to infection."

"You are going to need some stitches though, er, ma'am."

I was not used to being called ma'am. For one I was way younger than he was...or at least I think so.

"No need for the ma'am. Just call me Shadow, how many stitches am I going to need exactly...twelve?"

"No, good guess, but you will be needing fifteen. Twelve for the longer gash and three for where you opened the wound to get the infection out. A very good clean cut, may I add."

"Wija!" (Damn it!) I couldn't help saying. I had forgotten about the other cut I had made.

"Ting." (Give.) Kyrea said chuckling, holding out her hand. I reached into one of my pockets and handed her the five credits. Kyrea accepted them and left the tent, probably to stash her winnings. All the while, Jesse looked very confused.

"We had a bet on how many stitches I would need. She won as you noticed." I explained. Jesse gave a grin and chucked a bit.

"We should get started on the stitches, though." He said.

I nodded and tried not to flinch when he injected some painkiller in my leg. He started to slowly sew up the bigger cut.

"So, will I need to remove these later or are they going to biodegrade and I can just take the off the top?"

"After the wound has shut then we are going to have to cut the stitch and pull it out. It doesn't hurt as bad as it sounds."

"Okay. Good to know."

The rest of the time there was silence and he focused on patching me up. After Jesse sewed up everything he wrapped it in gauss so that the stitches wouldn't get caught on anything by mistake. He told me that I wasn't allowed to run very hard or the stitches might move and open, making my slash worse and open to infection...again. After it was done I thanked him; Jesse was a nice, smart, and patient guy. An awesome medic if I ever did know one. Stepping outside of the tent, I noticed that the sun was just barely starting to set. I looked around for Kyrea and soon found her standing with four clone troopers.

"Hey, Shadow," she said giving a small wave. I walked over and she introduced me to the four troopers.

"Shadow, this is Fives, Echo, Waxer, and Boil." Pointing to each trooper as she spoke their name. "They are going to be our watchers, so to speak."

I looked at them all straight in the eyes, sure they are clones but they have their differences. "So the Jedi don't trust us to be alone?" I said on a low tone, the troopers shuffled nervously.

"Seems like it." Snow replied at the same tone.

I faked a frustrated face, and mentally grinned when they all seems to get uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. Then I broke into a huge grin, "Well, all to be expected. I would have been nervous if the Jedi _didn't_ have someone watch us." The troopers immediately relaxed and Fives gave a small grin, Snow was silently giggling.

"You should have seen your faces." She laughed. "All of you looked like you were expecting us to kill you or something!"

"Well, can't say the thought didn't cross my mind." Fives said looked over to Echo who nodded in agreement. Waxer and Boil gave small smiles, also in agreement.

"Seeing that you guys are going to follow us, do you mind showing us around the camp? You know, so that we don't aimlessly wander around and bore you all." I said.

"Sure." Waxer replied grinning a little wider and off we went on a tour.

**Kyrea**

Fives leading the way, we walked through the camp. It was a pretty organized camp, but I can honestly say that our camps were better.

_Well they had to be. If it wasn't that got the whole company sorting rations and a five mile run._

I shook off the thought, our core was different, but we weren't as connected as the clones were. Sure they are brothers, but that doesn't always mean you are close.

"...and that finishes the tour of our lovely camp." Fives concluded with a mock bow. Shibaan chuckled a bit and pulled on my arm.

"Hey let's go sit on the top of that hill. Night's falling and we can see pretty much all the stars from there, I'll bet." She said not really waiting for and answer as she pulled me along. I didn't really have a problem with it, when we were younger we liked looking at the stars, still did to this day. We ran to the top of the hill, but Shibaan insisted we sit at the 'tippy top'. I smiled lightly, Shibaan could be very serious at times, but when things were calm she was like a little kid sometimes.

We sat at the 'tippy top' of the hill, Fives and the rest included.

"You mind if I join you guys?" Ahsoka asked behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know it was her, she was up-wind.

"Sure." I said scooting over and patting the spot beside me. She sat and nodded her head in greeting and thanks. I returned the nod.

"So, how did you and Shibaan meet? You guys seem pretty close." She asked after a few minutes

"I'm going to go...look at the gear I got." Shibaan said getting up and walking down the hill.

"You don't have to worry; you can stay and listen to the story." I told Fives and Waxer, who were about to get up and follow her. "She doesn't like listening to her own story...and I can't blame her either." I sighed. I looked to Ahsoka.

"It was a very long time ago, but we Dragolians remember things for a long time. We met when we were eight. First, however, there is something you need to know." They all stared and waited. "You know that Shadow's pelt is black, yes?" They nodded. "And you all know that mine is white." They nodded again.

"You know no matter what culture or society you come from you will always have fears or superstitions. I can guarantee that." I started. "Well, it all started with us being born. When we are first born, we cannot change into a form. We are able to change when we are five, there is a big ceremony as well, and you morph in front of everyone in the town. I paused, to make sure they were paying attention.

"What happened at Shadow's ceremony?" Ahsoka asked.

"Well... It was bad. It's the reason why she doesn't stick around to hear the story. It all started when she morphed..."

_Flashback_

_"It's a demon!" Someone screamed. Everyone looked at the girl who had just turned into a young black wolf. People ran while other closed their eyes and make a sign with their hands, a sign to ward off evil spirits and the devil. Rocks, from the size of a walnut to the size of a fist, were lobbed full force. Some making contact with the girl and she yelped, but was too confused to run. I was confused as well, why was everyone so angry? All this girl had done was follow tradition and morph. I tried to go up on the stage and help the girl, but my mother grabbed my arm and held me back._

_"Don't go near __it,__ daughter. It is a demon!" She scolded, still holding my arm. I didn't understand, but I could not escape my mother's grip. I stared on at the girl who still refused to move and run. One of the men in the front picked up a walnut sized rock, took aim, and threw it. Unfortunately, his aim was true; his rock struck the wolf girl in the temple, making her bleed. This finally snapped her out of her confusion and she ran off the stage, heading in the direction of the hills. The crowd cheered and some gave chase. They came back shortly cheering and yelling that they had 'kicked the beast!' After a few more moments order was called and the ceremony was continued as if nothing had happened. I looked at the stage, male twins were before me and they jumped onto the stage together. Standing side by side, hard stares on their faces, they morphed. Both turning into young, tan, Corriente Bulls, the crowd cheered, clapped, and congratulated the family on their good fortune. The boys shook their heads and showed off the small hooked horns on their heads that would grow as they grew. They morphed back and they walked off the stage, filled with pride and absorbing the audiences' applause. Everyone quieted and fell silent, it was my turn, and I slowly walked onto the stage, feeling nervous as I looked at the hundred other eyes looking back at me. My mouth felt dry, I was shaking slightly, someone coughed, another sneezed. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and morphed. I kept my eyes closed, nervous about people's reaction, all I heard was everyone gasp and continue to stay silent. I opened one eye and looked down; I knew at once from the paw that I was a wolf. I opened my other eyes slowly and glimpsed at my pelt. It was pure white! The townspeople and my parents were still looking at me with awe. Then, slowly without a word, they all got on their knees and bowed. _

_"Everyone bow, we are graced with the presents of an angel from Heaven itself." Someone announced._

_"How will it be named, normally the parents name their children, but an angel? I forget how it is done." I heard someone whisper._

_"That is up to it or the assembly master." Someone whispered back._

_"Young angel," the assembly master said to me, his eyes averted to the ground, "will you allow me to name you? _

_"Yes." I said. _

_"From now on this angel shall be known as...Kyrea!" He yelled. The audience exploded in cheer and praise. Nobody, however, rose off their knees or raised their eyes to look at me directly. Still in my form I padded off the stage._

_"Sir, what shall the demon be named?" I heard behind me. I cocked my ear back to hear what they were saying a little better._

_"The demon shall be named Shibaan, tell the rest of the town this. I don't see why we wasted time discussing this, but the people will would have wanted a name for it."_

_"A fitting name, for a de-" the rest was cut off as I morphed back into human form, tired of everyone being mean to that poor girl and calling her an it. My morphing back didn't help the issue of people looking away from me, even when my parents came to congratulate me they looked down at their feet. We went home and no matter what, they did not look at me and the girl was not mentioned. Trying to get them to look at me I asked "What where those boys names?" _

_"They are to be called Tìtxur and Sayrip."_

_"Really? Power and Handsome? Okay I guess." _

_My mother nodded, the whole time she did not look directly at me._

_"Why won't you look at me?" I finally asked frustrated._

_"Well, we are worried that your look will purify us to much, we don't want to be that perfect. To be that perfect and be mortal, the mortal will die."_

_End Flashback_

"So in other words, they were afraid of me." I said looking at my audience.

"That was horrible." Ahsoka said. The troopers nodded.

"That still doesn't explain how you two met though..." Fives said, plainly curious.

"We'll, that story was background info. We officially met three years later, since the ceremony I wasn't allowed outside; for fear that I would purify and kill someone by accident. The only time I was allowed outside was to go with the town herbalist to learn about medicine and herbs. One day, however..."

_Flashback_

_"Herb Teacher, why does everyone but you not look at me?" I asked suddenly, it was a question that after three years nobody would answer, but I felt that if anyone would she would._

_"I told you, Kyrea, you don't have to call me 'Herb Teacher', you can call me Elsa." She replied._

_"Sorry, Elsa, but why does nobody look at me? Even when I talk to them they still don't."_

_She sighed and replied with a bit of anger and sarcasm in her voice, "Because the townspeople are superstitions that way, ignorant as well. That is why."_

_"Is their superstition what caused them to be mean to that girl who turned into a black wolf?" I asked hesitantly._

_"Yes, it is." She sighed. "Why do you ask these questions now?" _

_"Oh...because I heard my parents talking about her yesterday night. They said she was seen and how surprised they were that she hasn't died. They say that Tìtxur and Sayrip are bragging about how they will find her and do something. I didn't hear the rest." I admitted. _

_Elsa just tightened her lip and did not speak for a while. I held my tongue and pondered what I had just learned and what I had just said. Elsa didn't speak until we got a spot in the meadow that she wanted. She started taking multiple herbs out or her satchel. My lesson began with naming common herbs for fixing and healing small wounds, then to the herbs that can help get rid of stomach aches or cramps. Then ones that can make you sleep, and finally the poisonous variety. Seeming satisfied with my remembrance of the herbs she introduced new herbs._

_"These are Angelica leaves; they are used to combat digestive problems, gastric ulcers, anorexia, and migraines."_

_I nodded and repeated what she said three times. Elsa pulled the Angelica leaves down and pulled out another herb._

_These are Anthemis flowers; they have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-parasitic properties. These are St. John's Wort; they have a juice inside of them that helps heal wounds and bruises."_

_I looked at the herbs, memorizing their look and their properties. After several more herbs Elsa tested me again and again until I got them all right. Then she moved on to placing the herbs on the ground and told me to pick up the herb, say its name and its properties. I passed again with flying colors. She ended the lesson there and packed up the herbs. That was the end of the lesson. I went back home and I immediately lead myself to the bathroom washed my hands, went to my room and changed. _

_The rest of the day I was bored out of my mind, nobody came to visit me unless they had no other choice. Sure If I asked for anything I would get it, but there was nothing I wanted other than a playmate and I was denied that. I was lazing around, doing a pull-up on the door way, or a set of push-ups every once and a while, when I heard my parents muttering outside. I put my ear against the door and strained to hear what they were saying._

_"Demon..._ _Tìtxur... Sayrip...fight...wounded...fought back...came back bloody...don't know...caves on the hill...don't care...world...better off if it does."_

_At this moment the door opened pushing me back on my bottom looking up at my parents._

_"Sorry, I was doing a pull-up just now; I tripped backing up for you." I said quickly._

_"Not to worry dear, we were just wondering what you wanted for dinner." My mother said, smiling looking at the ground. Even after three years they still didn't look at me._

_"I'll have whatever is easiest for you to make." I replied._

_"We insist, daughter that you can have your choice of whatever you desire." My father countered._

_"Well...could I have some bread and cheese? Some jerky as well, if we have any?"_

_"Of course. We shall be back in about ten minutes. Tell me, would you like the bread toasted?" My mother said turning away._

_"Yes please...actually can I have two loaves, one toasted one not." I said suddenly thinking of something._

_"Yes, alright." My father said turning away to follow my mother eagerly._

_I gently closed the door and waited. They came up in ten minutes just as they had said. As they handed me the dishes I had requested I could not help my curiosity._

_"Whatever happened to that girl...they girl everyone called a devil?" _

_"Oh...she hasn't been seen until today. Many were surprised; they thought that she had died long ago."_

_"Who was she seen by? What happened?!" I cried, eager to hear more than whispers. _

"_It__ was seen by Tìtxur and Sayrip. They said that they fought the thing near the main road, bragging that they have given it enough wounds to kill it. Some people are hoping that it's tr-" my father said, getting a small elbow from my mother before he could finish._

_"Oh." I said dismayed. _

_My parents dismissed themselves saying they did not want to disturb me. I nodded and, again, gently closed the door. As soon as I heard their steps fade, I jumped into action. I pulled out my traveling bag and my herb satchel, I rummaged through my herb satchel and pulled out a couple of herbs that I knew eased pain and stopped bleeding and helped cuts and bruises. I grabbed a lantern I had hidden under my bed, and then wrapped up the food in a clean scarf. I was all ready, I found the window that my parents had covered and unlocked it. Looking outside, it was dark, nobody about walking the streets. I slowly stepped out through the window and closed it. Taking a deep breath, and hoping that nobody would see me, I ran down the path toward the main road, the dirt quietly crunching as I ran with my load. After about five hundred meters I finally came to the main road and followed it. I stopped when I used my wolf sense of smell, smelling blood. I walked forward on the right track. Once the smell became overwhelming I stopped again and looked down and around. To my left was a little puddle of blood. I sniffed at it and somehow knew that it was not bulls blood, it was wolf. I quickly looked around hoping to find a trail of it and I did. I followed it about half a mile before I saw the caves the girl was rumored to be in. Feeling nervous, I hitched my bag to a better position and continued following the trail. The blood finally lead to one of the bigger caves in the hill, I turned on the lantern and stepped inside. The smell of blood was amplified as I walked further into the cave._

_"Hello?" I whispered getting no reply._

_"Hello?" I said a little louder._

_"Go...away..." A voice said. It sounded pained and strangled._

_I was a bit startled, but I continued slowly walking inside. Someone coughed I was positive that was Shibaan, the believed to be 'devil'. As I got closer I heard a little bit of wheezing, she must have been hurt badly to start wheezing. I quickened my pace and soon I came upon a bruised and bloodied Shibaan. She was leaning against a wall, blackened eyes closed, and several wounds and bruises on her arms and legs. I gasped and reached out, gingerly touched the bruises on her arms. She stirred, whimpered, and immediately pulled up her hands to protect her face, revealing even more blood on her shirt._

_"It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." I said calmly, gently taking hold of her arm and lowering it._

_Her eyes opened, revealing bloodshot and teary eyes. "You're not?" She said faintly._

_"No." I stated firmly._

_"That's what they all said, you know. They all said they weren't going to hurt me." She growled weakly, before clutching her side in pain._

_"What's happened to you?"_

_"Two boys, bulls, brothers, they found my usual spot in the meadow and they waited for me. When I got there, they jumped me. I tried to fight back, but I don't really know how to fight. I did the best I could though." She wheezed._

_"You didn't attack them first?"_

_"No, I try to stay away from people 'cause whenever they see me they just yell or throw things at me. I-it's s-so lonely though." Tears started streaming down her face and she pulled her knees up to her chest. "I-I don't understand w-why they call me a Devil. That's j-just the way my pelt i-is." She said in hiccupping breathes, one arm holding her ribs the other wrapped around her legs._

_I hesitated; I didn't really know what to do. I thought for a second. Then I slowly put my arm around her shoulders. She flinched, but then she leaned on me slightly._

_"Do you k-know why they do what t-they do?" She looked at me, tears running down her face._

_"They are a bunch superstitious Siklas. I think it is downright wrong and stupid." I replied, using the wolf word for coward. Looking down at her I wrapped my other arm around her. She smiled, "Maybe you are an a-angel." _

_"How did you know? What makes you say that?"_

_"I went back to the ceremony and saw you morph and be named."_

_You are too wise for your years." She added_

_"You are too, you know wise beyond your years, and you know loneliness and the pain it brings." I said sadly. Suddenly I heard a growl. I released Shibaan._

_"Are you hungry?" _

_She gave a small nod. I smiled and reached into the pack at my side. Taking out the bread, I handed it to her. She looked at it for a second, cautious and wary. _

_"It's not poisoned, here look." I said gently as I tore a small piece off and ate it. She looked at me straight in the eyes and I looked back, satisfied she took slow small bites._

_"After you are done, will you let me treat your cuts and bruises?"_

_"...okay."_

_We sat in silence, with the exception of her chewing. It only took her a few minutes to devour the whole loaf. She kept her word and let me examine her wounds. Afterwards, I made a few salves applied them on her arms and legs, and wrapped it in gauze. During the whole process, however, she kept clutching her ribs._

_"If it pains you, I think I should look at it." I said._

_She was unsure and hesitant, but complied to my wishes. She took of her shirt, but kept her wrap on. Her wrap covered her upper chest, but it was high enough so I could see the lower part of her ribs. The bottom of her ribs and her entire stomach were covered in blue and purple bruises! I held my breath and ran my hand along the contour of her rib where the biggest bruises where. I was happy to find out, though, that none of her ribs had been broken, cracked maybe, but not broken. I applied another salve and she relaxed._

_"What did you use? It makes the pain and everything go away and feel numb." she sighed._

_"I just used mashed up Arnica, Yarrow, and Ragwort. It will help you get better faster."_

_"...Thank you."_

_"No problem." I said beaming._

_"Why...why did you come to find me? You are the only one who's done this."_

_I gave her some more of the food I had brought then looked down at the floor, "You're right. I shouldn't have come now." _

_She sat up surprised and I looked her in the eyes. "I should have come here a long time ago."_

_She calmed and resumed eating and leaning against my shoulder. I, again, wrapped one arm around her shoulders. Sitting there next to her made me forget about time, she was only eight like me and she already had unneeded knowledge about the cruelty of loneliness._

_I shifted and she leaned off my shoulder. "We should get some sleep." I yawned._

_She nodded and morphed into her wolf form. Her eyes darted at my face nervously, I just smiled and morphed. _

_"Will you be here in the morning?" She woofed softly, the wolf equivalent of a whisper._

_"Yes."_

_"Are you sure. Sometimes people visit me, but when I wake up they are gone."_

_"I promise on our friendship." I woofed._

_Her head and ears shot up. "You consider me a friend?"_

_"Yes, of course! I think we are going to be best friends." I said butting her head softly._

_She gave a happy whine and butted me back. I padded to her side and curled up next to her, so that we faced each other. She yawned moved a little closer and soon fell asleep._

_The next morning I was there by her side when she woke up, as promised._

_End Flashback._

"And we've been friends ever since." I concluded.

Nobody spoke, all still thinking about Shibaan's and my story. I had only changed our names in the story, saying Shadow and Snow instead of our true names. When I said Snow and Shadow, I'm not lying. Shadow and Snow is what Shibaan and Kyrea translates to. 'Baan and I just want to keep it to ourselves until we know that the Jedi won't screw us over.

"Didn't the townspeople find out?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yes. Or rather I openly showed them. I had to convince Shadow, of course, but I openly showed our friendship."

"What did people say?" Fives spoke up.

"Some were startled, but they weren't going to do anything about it. They wouldn't speak against me, thinking I was an angel. They left me to my business. the bull brothers didn't care whether I was an angel or not though. We never fought publicly, but we had our fair share of fights. Some we won, some they won. Once the Military sign-up came around though we all signed up."

Why did you sign up? You were all pretty young weren't you?" Waxer inquired.

At that point in time we had met up with Red, she got teased for her pelt color like Shadow was. Red is two years younger than us, but she can fight like a panther if it comes to it. Anyway Shadow always had a soft spot for her though, probably because they had a connection when it came to being teased about their pelts. We joined the army because one, they didn't care what pelt you had, for all they cared you could've had a polka-dot pelt. The second reason being, we wanted to serve, it would teach us to fight better. Besides, there was nothing for us at the town."

All the troopers nodded approvingly. At this moment Shibaan came climbing up the hill, sword in hand.

"Well, well, well, look who showed her face finally." I said. Shibaan just shook her head with a thin smile on her face. She sat down next to me and handed me the blade.

"Just finished cleaning it. So how much of the beans did you spill on our friendship story?"

"Oh, about... all of it."

"Darn. Did you tell her how we met Red?"

"A little. Not too much in detail though."

"Okay, good. I never did like sad stories."

"So, Shadow, if you Snow, and Red are so close, why are you a part of different clans?" asked Boil.

"Well, when it comes to clans, they all have their own skills and ideas. When it came to decide what we believed in we weren't all similar, but we aren't far apart." Shibaan answered.

Just then Shibaan and my neck-coms started to get static. Shibaan pressed hers and listened. There were little clips of running and the smacking of branches, running footsteps and little phrases.

"...found...chase...please...hear this..."

Our coms weren't loud, but we were all so quiet all of us could hear these phrases. Then we heard a terror filled shriek.

"SHIBAAN!"

'Baan's eyes grew wide with shock, "Oh God, Edeme!" She whispered, immediately looking at me then changing into her wolf form and running head long into the forest.

"Wait Shibaan!" I yelled so afraid for Edeme, I forgot to say Shadow.

"She is Shibaan, I thought she was Shadow?" Ahsoka commented obviously very confused.

I got up and ran toward our tent to grab some more weapons. "Shadow is the translation. Look i'll explain later, but right now I need to get to Edeme." I explained on the way. I threw open our tent flap, grabbed a bow and the closest quiver.

"Echo, I need you to stay here and tell your generals what is happening if they ask. Fives, Waxer, Boil, get a speeder and try to keep up with me. Ashoka you're with me." I ordered throwing the quiver and bow to Ahsoka before jumping into my greater form.

Nobody questioned, I think they were a bit confused, but they complied. Ahsoka jumped onto my back without a second word. I raced off into the direction Shibaan had come with Fives, Boil, and Waxer in tow on speeders.

_Hold on Edeme. We're coming. _I thought _Please don't let Shibaan lose control._

**Well, there you have it folks, the fifth chapter. Hope you enjoyed Shibaan and Kyrea's friendship/back story. I'm trying to make my chapters longer as you can see. I am finally on spring break! More time to write, yay! Don't forget to show your support by R&R'ing! Oh yes, before I forget, Sikla is a wolf word for coward or weakling. Credit for this word goes to the book ****The Sight**** by David Clement-Davis. **


	6. Chapter 6- The Last Crow

**Disclaimer- I do not own SWTCW in anyway. I only own my OC's and the plot.**

* * *

**Shibaan**

As soon I heard Edeme scream my name, I wasn't thinking of anything but getting to her and killing whoever was causing her pain. I ran headlong in the direction of the woods and I soon found myself just running in a random direction. I shook my head and gathered my thoughts. I stopped on a dime and lifted my head to sniff the air. The wind was blowing in my face and the tale it told was horrible. The wind carried the stench of blood and death. This angered and scared me a lot, I resumed running in the direction of the terrible stench. I morphed to my human form when I finally found the source of the stench, seeing the carnage made me almost retch. In front of me was a camp, and bodies were strewn about, maimed and defiled. I pulled up a section of my tunic that served as a cowl and looked around for survivors.

As I looked at the bodies I noticed one thing, the tattoos on the forearms of most of the fallen people were of a bone with still rotting flesh on it, the symbol of the Hyena Clan. I continued looking and soon recognized a tattoo and a face. It was a single black feather tattoo and the face was Wuya's. He was the leader of Crow Clan. His eyes were wide open; I said a quick prayer to whatever god the Crows believed in and closed his eyes forever. Looking around even more, I found more and more people from the Crow; I said their names as I saw them.

"Wuya, Ffeil, Txep, Shil, Marha..." I listed five more people and realized that Edeme may very well been the last of her clan. I had to move and find Edeme at once! Again I was running as fast as I could through the dense forests, branches whipping my face in my flight.

**Kyrea's POV**

With Ahsoka on my back and Fives, Boil, and Waxer on speeders at my side, I raced toward the smell of blood and death. Sometimes, just for a second, I would catch a whiff of Shibaan's scent, so I knew I was on the right trail. Slowly with each bound, the smell of blood grew stronger and before long I came to the source. It was chaos, blood and limbs were everywhere and flies were just beginning to gather. Ahsoka slid off my back, too stunned and horrified to say anything. Fives pulled up beside me, his helmet hid his features so I couldn't tell what his reaction was. It was the same with Boil and Waxer. I growled at the bloody scene and padded to look over the bodies. It didn't take more than one look to tell that they were dead. I started to walk away, when I saw a small movement in the corner of my eye. I bounded over to investigate. It was Evelia, a member of the Crow. I morphed into my human form and bent my head in respect, when her eyes suddenly opened slightly. I looked into her eyes and she gave a small smile, despite the numerous deep gashes and lacerations on her body.

"It was the Separatists and Hyena clan wasn't it." I whispered. Evelia gave a slow, small, painful nod. She tried to speak, but a small fountain of blood gushed from her mouth.

"Ka plltxe. (Don't speak)" I said comforted, "I'm going to get you out of here."

Evelia shook her head. "Kä. Txìng oe. Kä srung Shibaan. Oe ma hasey fpi. (Go. Leave me. Go help Shibaan. I am done for)"

"Shibaan was here?" I questioned. Evelia painfully nodded her head. "Srane. (Yes.)"

More blood spilled from her mouth and she gave a wet cough. "Krr stum fitsenge."(My time is almost here.)

Knowing there was nothing I or anyone could do; I nodded and took her hand. She closed her eyes and her breath slowly left her body. Two agonizing minutes later, she gave one final sigh as she was released from the world. I gave her hand a final soft squeeze, then let go of her hand."Oe ma ngaytxoa. Oe pate nìhawng hawngkrr. (I am sorry. I arrived too late)."

I stood up and saw Ahsoka, Fives, Waxer, and Boil; their heads were bowed in respect.

"Come on. We need to get moving." I said, morphing into my greater wolf form. Ahsoka jumped onto my back and Fives and the others mounted their speeders and we took off, leaving the gruesome scene behind us. Shibaan's scent was weak compared to the smell of blood, but it was there. I also picked up Edeme's scent and another scent that Shibaan, Edeme, and I knew all too well. If Shibaan had picked it up, the owner of the scent was as good as dead.

**Edeme's POV**

I was lying on the forest floor, exhaustion and blood loss made me too tired to run or attack...**him**. He was many things: a soldier for the wrong side, a spy on enemy lines, a story teller, a liar, but most of all he was a fox in her favor. It is bad enough to be a fox, everyone mistrusts you. In fact those who had a fox as their counter-part had many of the same characteristics. This made everyone even more wary.

I wasn't going to deny the fact I may as well have been in critical condition and (as much as I hated to admit it) vulnerable, especially to him. As a fox, both in animal and human form, you don't have the power to take out big targets directly, unless they were in a condition like mine.

A branch snapped in the thicket and he, in fox form, emerged. He morphed and gave a sly and feral grin.

"So, Red, lying on the job?" He chuckled at his own joke and circled my immobile body. He crouched and a slow, big grin dawned on his face when I didn't reply. "Oh! I get it, you're tired! Well, I can help you sleep." He wrapped his hands around my neck and slowly squeezed and pressed upward. I tried to fight back, my arms ached from countless bruises and cuts. He simply shook his head and dealt me a swift but heavy blow to my ribs. Some of the ribs must have been cracked because one collapsed with a wet 'snap' and pain shot through my body as it punctured my right lung. Now, in addition to my strangulation, blood was flowing into my lungs. He continued pushing downward cutting off my air and anywhere the blood could go. He was going to drown me. My heart pounded in my ears, quickened by my panic, and my face began to burn. Fuzzy black caterpillars threatened my vision, but I blinked them away and continued to fight for breath. This effort was in vain and the caterpillars returned and darkness washed over me.

When my eyes finally opened, I found myself tied to a tree, my throat stiffly tied as well. Time had passed so easily. Blood was flowing freely from my nose and out of the corners of my mouth. The ground below me was stained with dry and still wet blood. Where was Shibaan? Did she not hear me? Was she not coming?

I heard a laugh in front of me and I looked up.

"Well, well. What do I do now?"

I said nothing and looked defiantly into his eyes, despite the fact he had throwing knife in hand. His smile widened as he watched me eying the knife.

"Well, you have chosen."

He threw the knife. The pain that followed felt instant. The knife imbedded itself in the middle of my exposed immobile left hand. A groan escaped me, when I had meant to make no sound. I looked at him again and he produced another knife from his back. He threw this one without a word and this knife imbedded itself in my left shoulder. The pain exploded to a whole new level, I barely managed to not let out a scream or a groan. As he was preparing another knife, I suddenly felt so very tired and numb. I shook my head determined to stay awake. If I went under now, my chances of surviving would go from slim to zero. I saw him throw the third knife, but this time I felt nothing. I looked down and saw the knife protruding from my right leg. My vision started to blur and I couldn't find the strength to life my head back up. Just as I was closing my eyes, I heard an ear-splitting bark.

...

My eyes opened briefly, but I couldn't make sense of what I saw. There were to very fuzzy figures. One of the fuzzy figures was a black blur then it changed. It stood in front of me.

"YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY AFTER THIS, ANGEG!" The figure screamed.

The other figure started to back away, but was tackled to the ground. Just as my vision was clearing a little, darkness lulled me back.

...

I felt like I was falling. Darkness evaporated and I was suddenly staring into a pair of blue eyes that I knew so well.

"Edeme, stay wake, okay." Kyrea said, giving me a light shake.

I nodded unable to say anything. My eyes wandered and I saw Ahsoka, and some clone troopers whose names escaped me. My vision blurted then corrected itself. I saw Shibaan holding Angeg. His hands were handcuffed behind him. Shibaan's eyes held a fierce hating look that could have burned holes in a light saber. I shut my eyes for a minute, until I heard Kyrea scolding and shouting. My eyes shot open and I saw Shibaan holding Angeg off the ground by his throat. Fives, the other troopers, and Ahsoka weren't sure what to do. Kyrea was trying to convince Shibaan that we needed Angeg, that he might know where our clan-mates were. Shibaan spoke sharply saying something like 'We don't need him. There are others, other than this miserable cur, who could tell us where they are.'

At first I was happy that Angeg was getting a taste of his own medicine. Then, however, I remembered how being strangled felt. I remembered the helplessness and horrible feeling. He deserved this, but if he could help us find Shibaan's and Kyrea's clan mates faster, I was willing to interfere with his death.

I tried speaking, but nothing came out except for a harsh croak that nobody heard. I tried again, only to get the same result. I tried standing and surprisingly my muscles obeyed. I slowly limped over to Shibaan, who was now turned away from me and holding Angeg against a tree, and put my hand on her arm. She turned to me, surprise somewhat melting the anger in her eyes.

"Don't." I croaked.

Anger still smoldered in Shibaan's eyes. "Only for you." She whispered and she dropped Angeg on the floor. He sputtered and coughed violently and scooted away from Shibaan. Kyrea stood behind him and lifted to him to his feet none too gently. I suddenly felt woozy and lost my footing. Shibaan caught me though and put my arm around her neck, supporting me. I started coughing into the crook of my arm. I tried to hide the flecks of blood, but Shibaan saw.

"We need to leave." She said.

Kyrea nodded and morphed to her greater form and picked up Angeg in her jaws. Ahsoka took my weight from Shibaan as Shibaan morphed into her greater form as well. Shibaan knelt to the ground and Ahsoka made sure I made it onto her back before getting on Shibaan, herself.

Shibaan growled to Kyrea, I could understand what they were saying despite me nit being in my form.

"I don't why you didn't let me carry him."

"You're too angry with him, you would crush him."

"No, his taste would be foul."

"Either way, I wasn't going to let you."

Shibaan huffed and walked at a smooth and brisk pace. I patted her shoulder, a silent confirmation she could go faster. She picked up her pace until she was at a steady run. The feel of Shibaan's fur and presence made me feel safe and that feeling allowed me to block out most of the pain and let myself slip into unconsciousness.

I woke up to the sight of Jesse and Kyrea cleaning tweezers and throwing out bloodied cloth. I looked to my right and saw Shibaan, hood over her eyes, leaning against some crates that were probably full of other medical supply.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hi." I said back.

"You want to know?"

"My condition? About the rest of my clan? Yes."

Shibaan sighed. "You have three broken ribs and two bruised ones, you've lost a lot of blood, and you had a lot of deep cuts that Kyrea and Jesse stitched up. We can't fix your lungs here though; we have to get on the Jedi cruiser to do that."

Shibaan kept her head bent, she wasn't telling me the rest or about my clan.

"So what are you not telling me?"

Shibaan didn't answer, but Kyrea did.

"We managed to get some of the blood out of your lungs. It's just...we can't get the rest out. If that blood stays in your lungs, they will get infected and you will die. The equipment we need to repair that is on the cruiser."

"Well why can't you call the cruiser?" I asked very confused.

"We can't." Shibaan said. "The cruiser is engaged in a battle with the Separatists. They don't know when the fight will be over." She was looking up now. Her hood still cast a shadow over her eyes, but my eyes penetrated the darkness and I saw sadness.

"Well, I'm just going to have to wait then aren't I, but you haven't told me about my clan."

Shibaan cast a small smile; she put her hand on my shoulder for a second before leaving the tent.

I turned to Kyrea, semi-confused. Normally Shibaan would not have been as upset, unless...Kyrea answered my unspoken question.

"They are gone. I didn't see any survivors..."

I nodded, understanding and feeling numb.

"You should get some sleep." Kyrea said. "If you need anything, give us a whistle." She handed me a long whistle. It was the kind of whistle you used to call a dog. She winked at me then left the tent.

"You have good friends." Jesse said looking at the tent flaps.

"Yeah, we're like family." I said, nodding off to sleep.

**Shibaan's P.O.V.**

I couldn't stay in that tent, seeing Edeme that way. I had seen death before, taking people I knew or taking complete strangers. Edeme was different though. In the old days, before the military, we were such happy kids. Edeme was actually quite innocent, despite her bullying. Just thinking about all the fun times and laughs we had made me smile.

I looked up and realized that I had walked up to the top of the hill. The hill which Kyrea and I had been on just hours ago. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Kyrea.

"I know you wanted to kill _him._" She said.

"You have no idea." I answered.

"You need to be more careful. You were close to losing it." She said.

I looked down at the ground. I knew what she was talking about. Had I been any angrier or had Edeme not stopped me, I would have gone into blood-lust. Then everyone would be in danger. I have gotten a taste of what going into blood-lust was like and while the feeling was empowering and fantastic, it was an experience I didn't want to have in full.

"Shadow? Snow?" A voice said behind us.

Kyrea and I turned around and saw Ahsoka.

"Are those even your real names?" She asked, not rudely but not nicely either.

"In a way." Kyrea answered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Said another voice. It turned out to be Skywalker, General Kenobi right behind him.

"It means we didn't give our actual names, more like a translation." I answered.

General Kenobi gestured for me to continue then started rubbing his beard thoughtfully.

"Our real names are Shibaan and Kyrea. The names we gave you Shadow and Snow are translations."

"Why didn't you give us your real names?" Ahsoka asked.

"Because, giving our true name is a sign of pure trust. In Dragolian society you only said your true name to family or close friends. You kept your true name to yourself otherwise. The only time strangers heard it was when you are given your name and that is a public festival." Kyrea answered.

"So what is the point of keeping your name a secret if it was announced to the public when you get the name?" Kenobi asked.

"It is just a formality. I don't think there was ever really reasoning behind it. Then again I wouldn't really know if there really is a reason." I said.

Ahsoka was the only one who knew what I meant, but Kenobi and Skywalker didn't question me about it.

That is until Kenobi's face lit up. "Oh yes, I have been meaning to ask you, what are your weapons made out of? I have seen you block and slice things that normally would be impossible for anything, save a light saber."

"Most, if not all, Dragolian weapons are specially made. Most are designed for the owner, swords especially. Some swords and other weapons, like bows are not specific and anyone can use them. The ones that are made for the owner are made from the strongest material we have...dragon scales."

"Dragon scales? What is a dragon?" Kenobi asked.

"It is similar to the Zillo beast. Only much smaller and has large wings to fly." Kyrea explained.

"I see." Kenobi said again rubbing his beard thoughtfully. He looked ready to ask another question, but was interrupted by a shout from Cody.

"Generals! You may want to see this!"

We all walked over to Cody who led us to a tent that had a scanner. As the line moved around the circular platform there was a mass of yellow dots, some of them being bigger than others.

"Are they droids?" Skywalker asked.

"Those aren't droids." Kyrea said.

"Then what are they?" He asked.

"Those...those are Hyenas."

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I had a bit of a writer's block and a lazy streak. So yeah, hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to R&R. They really do encourage and fuel authors. Thanks!**


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